Attachment for car-fenders



(No Model.)

R. MUIR.

I ATTACHMENT FOR GAR FENDERS. No. 554,525. Patented Feb. 11, 1896.

A TTOHNEYS.

ANDREW H.6RAHAM. FHOIOUTNL XWASHINGT OR. D C.

ATENT Pr on,

ROBERT MUIR, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

ATTACHMENT FOR CAR-FENDERS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 554,525, dated February 11, 1896. Application filed December 13, 1895. Serial No. 572,076. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ROBERT MUIR, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State ofNew York, have invented a new and Improved Attachment for Car-Fenders, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description.

This invention relates to a novel attachment for the front end of a car-fender; and has for its object to provide a plurality of very elastic bufier-springs for the fender which will be adapted to neutralize the shock of impact if the buffer strikes a person, and thus avoid any injury to the person so struck.

The invention consists in the peculiar construction and combination of parts, as is hereinafter described and designated in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 isa side view of a fender in part having the improvement attached thereto. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the fender, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse sectional View showin g preferred means for connecting the buffersprings with the fender-frame, the line of sec tion being indicated at 3 3 in Fig. 2.

The fender-frame 10 may be of any suitable material and have any preferred means for connecting it with a car, and on said frame the wire-netting 11 may be secured to afford an elastic bed whereon the person struck by the fender may fall and be carried without material injury. Any other available material may be substituted for the wire-netting, as the latter is not a feature of the improvement.

The invention comprises a plurality of very elastic thin plate-springs 12, which are arched in front of the frame 10 and lie in the same plane therewith.

As shown in Fig. 2, the springs 12 differ in curvature and have their ends secured in clamping-boxes at each side of the fenderframe, which will space the springs apart and allow each spring to preserve its resilience.

The clamping-boxes 13 are alike, and each consists of a metal shoe that has one end adapted for a bolted attachment to the side of the fender-frame, the recessed portion of said shoe being so proportioned in depth and area that the ends of the springs 12 will neatly fit therein.

A plate a is interposed between each pair of spring ends, which plates serve to space apart the springs and prevent any cramping of the latter which might distort their curvature.

On the outer springs 12 abinding-plate b is imposed, one in each box 13, and the said plates, together with the spring ends and spacing-plates, are perforated in alignment for the reception of clamping-bolts c, which have their threaded ends screwed into tapped holes in the inner walls of the shoes, so that a proper adjustment of the bolts 0 will clamp the ends of the springs 12 firmly within said shoes, and by the latter the springs will be secured to the sides of the fender-frame.

The front cross-bar, cl, of the fender-frame 10 is rendered concave for a portion of its length at each side of a median line this rearward arching of the cross-bar being essential to afford clearance from the spring 12 nearest to the frame, so that this spring may yield rearwardly at its center if pressed upon by the spring next to it and in front of the same.

On each side member of the frame 10 a block of wood or metal let is secured thereto on the lower sides of the said parts, these blocks serving to prevent the springs 12 from being brought into contact with the road-bed, if the fender-frame is depressed while in motion.

In use it will be evident that if a car having the improved attachment on its fender accidentally strikes a person on the railwaytrack in front of said car the foremost spring 12, which first has contact with the person, will yield at its point of impinge on the body struck and press on the next spring behind it. If the shock of impact is violent, the series of springs will each be successively pressed rearward by an impinge of the spring next in front, so that the person hit by the fender will not be injured thereby, but will probably be thrown over upon the netted fabric 11, which will safely maintain the prostrated person until the car is stopped.

If while the car having the improvement is in motion and the springs 12 of the fender accidentally strike a prostrate body or movable obstruction that lies on the road-bed,

the said springs will yield until all are compressed, and then will act to gently push the body from the track, and thus remove the person from off the road-bed and in a manner that will not be liable to inflict injury to the person so removed.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination with a fender-frame, of a plurality of spaced and bowed springs, secured at their ends to said frame and projected forwardly therefrom, the free or central portion of the said springs being all located in the same plane, so that they will come in contact with each other when striking an obstruction, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination witha fender-fran1e, of a plurality of bowed plate-springs having different degrees of curvature, all of said springs having their respective ends secured to the fender-frame at the same points, and proj ecting forwardly therefrom, the free or central portions of the springs being located in the same plane, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a fender-frame having a yielding cover, of a plurality of spaced and bowed p1ate-springs clamped at their ends in shoes on the sides of the fenderframe, said springs having diiferent degrees of curvature to permit of their non-contacting projection successively at the front of the fender-frame, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a fender-frame,

having its front cross-bar concaved, of plate-' 

